Sports teams braced for the worst as Hurricane Sandy neared its collision with two inland weather fronts. The Atlantic storm's arrival late Monday and expected convergence was bringing warnings of potentially catastrophic weather to the Eastern seaboard.

Dire predictions were made for Washington, where Sandy's impact was expected to begin Sunday night. Forecasters said the District of Columbia could see more than 4 inches of rain, 35 mph wind for long periods with gusts doubling that and power failures and flooding. And that was just for starters.

Making things worse, storm effects were expected to last several days.

The NFL on Sunday announced it would close its league offices in New York. While employees living near its headquarters might continue to work or perform duties from home, the league made plans for essential duties to be handled from other facilities.

Some Major League Baseball staff left Detroit on Sunday to get back to New York before the storm shut down transportation. MLB said about 25 staffers whose work was completed were carpooling back due to family concerns.

The National Hockey League likely will conduct all its business from Toronto, which was facing rain and cold. Whether the league and its players' union would conduct talks toward ending owners' lockout was doubtful.

The NBA's Washington Wizards are scheduled to open their season Tuesday in Cleveland, and on Sunday they changed departure plans. Rather than wait until 2:30 p.m. ET, the team said it would leave D.C. at 8 a.m.

Their first home game was scheduled for Nov. 3, providing the storm's aftermath would allow.

Suffolk Downs in Boston and Yonkers Raceway in New York canceled horse racing.

Suffolk Downs scratched its card of thoroughbred racing and simulcasting for Monday. Yonkers Raceway called off live trotting and evening simulcasting for Monday and Tuesday nights as Hurricane Sandy made its way up the Atlantic.

Yonkers is just north of New York City, which shut its mass transit system, closed its schools Monday and ordered hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Boston also closed its schools.

Next Saturday, Washington-area soccer club D.C. United is scheduled to open the MLS playoffs by playing host to the New York Red Bulls. The condition of RFK Stadium, the club's home field, will be a key consideration.

By tying its Saturday match against the Chicago Fire, United avoided a bigger problem. Had it lost, the club could have faced a Wednesday play-in game while Sandy was raging.

The club now has the option of indoor training (provided power is available) for Saturday's match.

New York Jets coach Rex Ryan said he told his players not to come to the team's facility in Florham Park, N.J., about 30 miles west of Manhattan, the next couple days. The Jets are beginning their bye week.

"I had planned on bringing in our players on Monday and Tuesday, but with the weather situation, that won’t happen. I care about our players a great deal. They need that time to be with their families and make sure everybody is out of harm’s way," Ryan said after the Jets' loss to the Miami Dolphins. "As much as I’d like to bring them in, that’s not going to happen. I care about our players too much to see them go through that, so they will not be in."

Federal offices in Washington were closed, and operations were being transfer to California and elsewhere to avoid Sandy. With Washington airports closing and flights canceled by the dozens, it appeared unlikely sports teams would stay in the danger zone.

A similar problem awaits the New York Giants. They were traveling back to New Jersey from Dallas on Sunday night after their victory over the Cowboys. Gov. Chris Christie issued a state of emergency declaration for the Garden State on Saturday.